Canadian Soil

Homesickness got the best of me.  My first plan was to go to Vietnam and than go home after meeting the family in Bangkok for a few days.  But that planned failed when I phoned the airline company in order to change my flight and was informed that all the planes where booked till June 27th.

The last few days were very emotional.  I was upsetting my parents since I was so upset and I even upset Mon a few times.  When my mom asked Mon to give me a hug Mon started to cry which made my mom start crying as well.

I spent an entire day on the phone with the airline company trying to find a solution for me to go home early.  We thought about flying into Seattle or  Calgary but they both had layovers in Vancouver.  After about four hours I was told that I would be able to fly back home as an emergency.

So my plane ticket was changed and I was scheduled to fly back on May 28th.  That gave me two days to say goodbye to everyone and do all the last minute stuff I had to do.  On the 26th I went to the village to say goodbye to everyone and on the 27th I stayed at home with the family and just relaxed.  The family which included Sa, Tha, Mama, Mon's brother, and us (Taiten, Bow, Mon, and I) all took me out for dinner one night.  It was hard to say goodbye but I was ready to come home.

On the night of the 27th I had to go to the bus station and wait for a bus to take me to Bangkok.  Since I lived in Kamphaeng which is a connecting down between Bangkok and Chiang mai I was not able to prebook my ticket.  That mean't I had to go to the bus station and hope they had a set available.  Since I was planning on catching the late night buses which left from 11 to 12 if by any chance none of them had seats I would have had to have Mon drive me down.

I unfortunately didn't get to say a goodbye to the kids since both were asleep and Mon couldn't wake them up.  It was a long 48 hours of traveling with the time change but when I finally arrived in vancouver I was relieved.  My parents drove down that morning and where only five kilometres out when I arrived.  When I walked into the waiting area I saw my parents just walk in.  I started running towards them with anticipation only to have both of them continue to walk away.  Equipped with two suitcases I ran after them pushing people out of the way.  I was to slow and both had entered the washroom before I could reach them or get their attention.  So I waited outside the rest room for them.  They were both shocked to see me since they believed I was still waiting to get through customs even though I texted them saying I had received my bags.

We stayed the night in Vancouver and drove back the next morning.  Once I got home I went to surprise my best friend Cole with my arrival.  While boarding the plane to Hong Kong I texted him informing him that there wasn't any flights available till the 28th which he believed.  I planned with Morgyn, his girlfriend, to meet them somewhere so I could surprise him.  It worked out perfectly since while he was inside A&W I waited in the car with Morgyn.  When he walked out he just stopped and stared completely shocked as to if it as actually me or not.

After spending sometime downtown running into friends and hanging out with Cole we went back to my house where some of my friends were waiting for me.  My parents had gotten all my friends together to throw me a surprise coming home party.  It was so nice to see everyone again.

Decedents of Apes

It is predicted that during the course of evolution humans evolved from monkeys.  I don't know about all humans but Thai people sure did.  Traditional grooming routines for woman include plucking grey hair out of one another's scalps, plucking each others arm pit hair, and not shaving.  

When I first came down to Thailand Mon considered me weird for shaving my legs routinely and kept saying how lucky I was to be able to grow hair on my legs.  I explained to her how back home its considered gross for women to have hairy legs and that people would kill to have hair-free legs like her.  That's one thing I absolutely love about travelling.  You are always able to learn about another cultures perspective on simple things such as hair removal.
Since they don't shave their legs their are no woman razors down here.  The only razors they have is for men which are mostly used for Monks.  I brought down two razors from Canada and came across the misfortune of breaking them.  I had to make the choose to either go oh natural for two months or buy a mens razor.  I went with the mens despite friends suggesting I unless the inner hippy.
Thai people also pick their noses.  I absolutely can't stand how casual they do it and I don't think I ever be able too.  If your going to pick your nose do it behind closed doors is my opinion.  I love how you will see people pick their nose and than touch something that a hundred other people are going to touch right after them.

Spicy Food

I remember the first week that I arrived in Thailand, Mon had made this dish.  Being in Thailand has altered my prospective of spicy.  I can eat something and believe it is spicy but Mon or Bow have no problem eating it.  (Taiten won't eat anything spicy)  I have learned now that you know something is spicy to one of them when Bow is crying and Mon steals your glass of water after drinking all her own.  They also do the loud breathing and sticking out their tongue sometimes.

Most of their dishes have a combination of some kinda chili and fish sauce.  Its amazing how much chilis and rice these people go through.  Fish sauce doesn't have that much flavouring but is added to give stuff a bit of liquid.  I swear all these people need to cook a good meal is oil, eggs (we go through about 48 eggs a week), fish sauce, and chilis.

Some of the stuff that Mon cooks is so spicy it hurts to breath.  The spice gets gets stuck in your throat and makes you cough.  When these days occur I usually have to have a cup of water on hand at all times.

Sometimes I might eat something and its not spicy so I will continue to eat it.  Than it hits you like a backhand to the face.  Holy man!  The key to eating spicy food is to work your way up gradually and to have something to get rid of the toxin.  The best is to have a cucumber or cabbage.  Cucumbers have saved my life and my lips a few times.

I have eaten spicy to the point that I have had a huge stomach ache afterwards.  When Bow and I eat are spicy noodles we can never only just have one bowl.  We of course needed seconds which just nearly kills us.  After are second bowl of noodles we usually go for a swim to cool off.

Feet

Buddhism emphasizes the head as being sacred while the feet are vulgar.  Since Monks aren't allowed to wear shoes to show respect you must remove yours when interacting with them.  Once a Monk has become older they are allowed, but due to modernization you will see plenty of Monks walking around with sandals on.      

You must always remove your shoes when going into a house and most stores.  You should also never touch anything buddhist to the feet.  For instance when I was at a temple ceremony in Phichit we all received a piece of string.  This string is significant since everyone held on to it while the Monks chanted, making it good luck.  

Everything can be turned into good luck down here.  Washing the Monks bathrooms is suppose to bring you good luck, and even receiving a bottle of water will if you drink a little bit each day.  Finding a parking spot in the market, or not having an accident while driving.  The string that was going to be discarded I was using to pretend to tie Taiten's ankles together.  Oh Boy was that wrong!  I have never seen such quick reactions out of Thai people before.  Mon started shaking her finger at me and Bow gave me a disgusted look.  That was my first scolding.

Also gesturing to certain objects is a no no.  I pointed to all of Bow's school books with my foot one day. Bow said since she learned with the books its considered rude to point to them with your feet.

Home Sick

After Andrea left I went home and cleaned up my room a bit.  By that I mean I packed my small suitcase with the clothes I'm to scared to wear incase they get wrecked and souvenirs I have gotten.  During the time that I was packing I started to think of home.  I have occasionally thought of home.  How exciting it will be to see everyone again, share my stories, and enjoy a cheeseburger!  But never have I thought of going home early, until today.  Out of the blue the thought occurred to me.  My stomach tied itself in a knot and I got butterflies.  I than mentally categorized reasons why and why not I should go home early.  Than I began planning how I would go about going home early.  I kept talking myself out of it and than back in but I consciously kept begging to find a reason to go home.

Thank goodness my parents came on skype were I talked things through with them.  My parents both liked the sound of me coming home early and my dad even started mentioning things we could do when I got back.  The next three hours I skyped with them was a mixture of confused moments.  Again the talking myself in and out of options and a lot of crying.  

Once I had settled down and felt a bit better I skyped with my best friend Cole.  But the feeling of homesickness once again hit me while talking to him.  I am very fortunate to have such amazing people in my life who love and miss me and are there to support me through the rough times even if I am half way around the world.  

So after five hours of skyping and endless amounts of emotions I was just as confused as what to do.

My reasons for staying

-going to vietnam

   (which might be an experience I will never get again)

My reasons for leaving
-seeing my family, friends
-If I continue to be homesick I won't enjoy myself

Bugs for Lunch

The next morning Andrea and I got up in time to get the kids ready for school.  After we had dropped the kids off at school Mon took Andrea and I to the market so we could purchase bugs.  Haha no joke.  We actually bought bugs, to eat!

I absolutely love the market.  Every time I go there I discover something new and disgusting that Thai people eat.  They literally have everything from fried frogs to crickets!  When I went with Andrea and Mon they even had turtles.  So once back at the house Andrea and I had lunch which of course consisted of peanut sauce with noodles and are recently purchased bugs. 

Let me describe these bugs for you.  The outside was hard and crunch which was good except they were extremely salty.  The inside was a network of fried guts which oozed juice the moment you bite through the bugs shell.  Just describing it is making my mouth water. 

When Mon came inside and saw Andrea spitting into the garbage can and me performing the "that-was-so gross-dance" she investigated our remaining plate of bugs.  Mon informed us that we were suppose to take of the shell and eat the inside.  I personally preferred the outside.  The texture of the inside was what had gotten to me.  

After we had finished eating our delicious lunch Andrea and I took the scooter to the Ancient city.  On the way we stopped into about cafe were I have made friends with the owner.  We ordered smoothies and chatted with Dao for a while.

I had no problem finding both entrances to the ruins.  The park is split into two different areas and only one side I had visited before.  This time I got to see both sides with Andrea which was a lot of fun.  We spent almost the whole day there and by the time we were finished we were both hot and sweaty.

So are solution was to go back to the house and go for a swim.  We turned on music and relaxed by the pool which is how I usually spend my days when the kids are at school and Mon is at the village.  Once the kids got home we did english together and played cards.  In the evening Andrea and I went to the night market.  I couldn't believe the amount of people who actually spoke english or at least the numbers.  I however talked Thai with them to achieve a bigger discount and also to improve my thai-communicate.    

    

Company!

I never thought I would get to share my experience with a friend but at last the day has come!  Andrea who I met in Koh Phi Phi traveled up from Bangkok and stopped in on her way to Chiang Mai.  She is planning on staying here for two days to experience real Thailand.  That so far has included a full moon monk ceremony (have no idea what its really called), and a trip to the village.  She also got to thoroughly understand the concept of a "thai time."

We started the morning at five thirty.  I pre-warned Andrea that the next few hours would involve a lot of chanting and might get rather boring.  She took everything in stride and appreciated the experience.  It also helped that we socialized quietly during the ceremony.  I explained how things worked in the Buddhist culture while she explained to me about Hinduism, since she spent two months in India before coming to Thailand.  

We had a typical day out at the village; Laying in hammocks, playing with the Dow's son, and eating food.  Taiten, Andrea, and I went for a walk and ran into some un expectantly huge leaves.  I seriously have never seen leaves that big in my whole life!!    

Its amazing how much Taiten has grown up during the five months I have been here.  He used to be this shy, timid person who only communicated with well known associates.  However this has greatly changed!  When he first met Andrea he had no problem talking to her and was even eager to join in activities with Bow and us. 

Bow, Andrea, and I drove the motorcycles to go get lunch, which was noodles.  We took Sak and Sa's bikes which where both standard.  Bow had to start the bike for me the first time but I had no problem getting it started by myself the second time around.  You have two extra foot pedals, one which is the brake, and the other to change gears.  I was surprised I caught on so quickly, and was riding like a pro in no time. 

Since this is my last month I have been getting photos with everyone in the village. I'm going to print a copy for each family as a gift and memory.  I absolutely love the village and the people and I hope they feel the same way about me too.  I consider them as my extended family and look forward to coming back some time in the future to see their growth.

The village was good until Andrea got an allergic reaction to noseeums.  She started to get progressively redder and had uncontrollable itching.  I asked Mon if we could leave soon so Andrea could take her medication back at the house, but the concept of soon was almost two hours later.  "Thai time" is a pain in the ass sometimes.  I have adapted to it but there is the odd occasion when it bothers me.  I could tell that Andrea was extremely uncomfortable, so I went to find Mon to see if I could hurry things up.

When the family wants to go somewhere I literally have five seconds to get out the door.  No one tells me whats going on and they never give me a heads up to when we are going to leave.  However when someone else wants to go somewhere its a struggle just to get out the door.  This is a common occurrence when we want to go camping.

When we finally got back to the house Andrea took her medication and had a cold shower which brought her back to health.  We decided we would try to do some baking with what ingredients we had.  However we had to wing-it and substitute a lot of the ingredients.  We made a brownie cake and a apple pie cake which turned out alright.  Even though they turned out very different than they would back home they tasted really good to us.  I think this is since we both haven't had dessert in months.  Even Mon and the kids really like them.  

    

Socialization

The second day of school for Taiten went unexpectantly well.  Mon and I took him to his classroom where without hesitation he waved goodbye to us and went to play with another boy.
Yesterday, after the kids got out of school, we went to Mon's friends place to visit and have dinner.  This is the first time since I have been here that Mon has hung out with her friends and hopefully it will become a common occurrence in the future.

Socializing isn't a big part of the Thai culture.  The kids hardly hangout with anyone other than grown ups and family.  Unlike Taiten, Bow doesn't even hang out with the kids in the village.  She usually stays with Mon, Peelawon, Sa or I.  Not once during the summer holidays  did she have a friend come over or play with anyone her age.  When I came back from Phuket, Bow told me she missed having someone to hang out with.

I am always trying to encourage her to have friends over or to hang out with the girls in the village but she would rather sit and interact with the grown ups.  When she does have kids her age around, like she did last night at Mon's friends, she doesn't interact with them.  Her friend actually stayed in the house and played on Bow's laptop while Bow played on the swing in the yard.

Sleepovers are unheard of over here along with team sports.  Schools don't have team sports but they do however play team games.  There are team sports, such as soccer, for grown ups but there isn't many social activities outside of school for kids.  Bow has friends in her taekwondo class but she never hangs out with them outside of the gym.

We mostly just ate at Mon's friends place.  When I say ate I mean we ATE!  We went through two huge bags of fruit between the seven of us and a huge chunk of pork.  There was a monk ceremony going on across the road which we attended later on in the evening.  Again we ate.

Despite not wanting to go, since all the drunk idiots try to dance with me, I got dragged there anyway.  I felt like her friend wanted me to go to say that she was associated with a white person since she kept introducing me to everyone.  I then realized she thought I had never seen a monk ceremony and wanted me to go for the experience.  I am glad that I have learned the words "I don't want" since I needed them to reject a guy who wanted to dance and a guy who wanted me to drink whiskey.  Still have yet to learn how to say piss off though :p

School

It was Taiten's first day of school yesterday and Bow's first day of her last year at elementary school.  For those of you who complain school starts to early in the morning, including me, you would not last in Thailand.  Morning starts about four to five o'clock for both adults and kids.  Bow and Taiten usually get up around six but for school they are up at five.

We arrived at the school at seven thirty.  Bow went her separate way while Mon, Taiten, and I went to his classroom.  We got him settled in and went for a walk down the hall to see how he would do.  As we were coming back to check on him though he was waiting at the door.  We went and sat down with him trying to get him to interact with the other kids but since we were there he only talked with us.  Mon wanted to stay all day with him but I believe the teacher told us it was time to leave.  The goodbye was the toughest part.  Taiten gave one hell of a fight but eventually we escaped.  

We waited around the school for an hour before sneaking back to check on Taiten.  By that time he was involved in classroom activities and was fine.  He just needed to start interacting and by Mon and I staying with him he wouldn't do that.  

During the time that we were hanging around the school we got to see their assembly and visit Bow in her classroom.  During the assembly, which is held outside, they sing the national anthem and raise the flag.  They do this every morning before school starts at eight.  The national anthem is played at eight o'clock in the morning as well as at six o'clock in the evening.  It is also played before watching a movie in a cinema.  

This is the Thai national anthem translated;

Thailand embraces in its bosom all people of Thai blood

Every inch of Thailand belongs to the Thais

It has long maintained its sovereignty      

Because the Thais have always been united

The Thai people are peace-loving but no cowards at war

Nor shall they suffer tyranny 

All Thais are ready to give up every drop of blood

For the nations safety, freedom, and progress

Still like the Canadian anthem the best though!! :)

Back in Kamphaeng Phet

When I got home there was a few changes around the place.  A few days after I left Mon held a house blessing ceremony.  Just like every other ceremony nine monks were present.  String was wrapped around the entire house and was held onto while they chanted.  The string is supposed to be left hanging around the house, forever, to keep the evil spirits out and to bring good luck to the family.

I got a warm welcome back home.  The kids said they missed me and I was happy to see them.  Even though I was gone for only two weeks the kids had grown a bit during that time.  Sa had also grown significantly during the period of time I was absent.  

Five Months

Another one who is growing up is Peelawon and Sak's puppy out at the village.  The cute ball of fur is now turning into a bit of a brat.  Mud puddles are her favourite past time and she thinks she can play with the big dogs.

 The first night back at the house I had an encounter with a snake.  As I was making my way to the bathroom I went to step over what I believed to be one of Taiten's toys.  As I was doing so though it moved.  I quickly ran and turned on the night to reveal a snake.  The next night as I was walking into the bathroom I encountered a huge rat that was making its way back up to the roof. 

Thai Washrooms

When I first stumbled into a traditional Thai style bathroom I was oblivious of how to properly use it.  When you walk in you will see a squat toilet, a water basin and a spray hose.

Gas station bathroom

Toilet paper isn't needed since they use the spray hose to wash themselves off.  This also accounts for the soaking wet floors.  I have to say in a way the Thai toilet system is a lot cleaner than ours.  You don't have to sit down on a seat that a hundred other people have also sat on.  

Village Bathroom

To flush the toilet you us the water basin.  The water baian has a dual purpose.  Its used not only to flush the toilet but for having a shower also.  Thai people shower by throwing buckets of cold water over themselves.  I have had a few traditional Thai bath times while I have been here and have come to the conclusion Western showers are 100% for me.  

Bathroom at our time share in Mexico

Even if you have found a proper sit toilet in Thailand there will be a sign informing you not to put toilet paper or anything else in the toilet.  This is since with their plumbing design the flushing of toilet paper will clog their pipes.  

  

Thai Food for Foreigners

For those of you who are planning on travelling to Thailand but would like to play it safe when it comes to food, this is just the blog for you.  I myself was afraid, well mortified, at some of the dishes which Mon prepared.  Spicy wasn't my strongest suit and neither was seafood.  I slowly adapted and became more adventurous, but still rather enjoy my foreign Thai food.
One of my favourite dishes is rice with pork egg.  In the grocery store you can buy packages of pork seasoning.  Add a teaspoon of seasoning and scramble it into two eggs.  Place the egg into a frying pan with a little bit of oil and WA-LA!

This next dish I tried while at my first monk ceremony.  Traditional Thai food was the only thing served and after trying numerous dishes I stumbled across this one.  Its a peanut sauce which goes well with noodles.  I am absolutely in love with it and hope to find a recipe, in english, so I can make it back home. Bow and Mon are planning on giving me cooking lessons before I leave and hopefully I will be able to share some of my dishes with you guys.  I could always open up a little Thai vending stand when I go back home :P

Another favourite of mine is street vendor noodles.  I am absolutely in love with "meu lueng moo nam sigh" which in English means brown noodles with pork.  The broth of the noodles down here is so rich in flavour that I always cringe with disgust when Bow and Mon pollute it with numerous spices and seasonings.  

This dish I was recently introduced too.  This was dinner last night which is a mix of vegetables, beans, and garlic.  I find it to rich in flavour by itself but perfect when combined with rice.  When I go back home all I'm going to need to make a quick and healthy meal is a wok, rice and some vegetables.  I am excited to share my new outlook on cuisine with my family and friends.